Heating steering wheel



Jan. 25,1927'.r SKUNC) HEATING STEERING WHEEL yFiled May 17, 1926 I Irastrea- 3. rear.4

Appiicaumi inea May i? steerin r YWheels for automotive vehicles,and

yItijis nell known to all who drive auto- -fm'obileg trucks, niotor boats, 'aioplancs or `otl'ier'/ automotive vehiclesthat itis exceed- "ingly, difficult tor the driver to' keep his "hands from becoming cold `ldui-ing periods of loivtemperature. Even, where fur, gloves or y,mittens are employed`r it ot'ten happens that i theioperatos hands become vnninb .with cold .b eC''uSe' in order to properly guide the ve- ',lh'icleithe hands mustbe continually held in' "place on the steeringWheel.y which :revents blood 'from circulating' as rapidly as' it fivould if `the hands and a'rins were in inotion. `Aviators u'lioare obliged to fly' at high al- -titudes and encounter ver).v low temperatures e-'en on the hottest'sunnuer days, and as it is impossible for thei'n to let go of the steering `Wheel` the are often subjected to annoyance and' su ering by the tact thatl their hands become numhed by cold.

Nearly every automotive vehicle of today is provided with an electric generator for` the purpose of supplying current for ignition and lighting and it is the object of this invention to produce a wheel that shall be so constructed that current from' the generator may he employed for the purpose of genei'ating heat that will keep the rim of the wheel warm and thereby serve to Warm the hands ot the operator.

It is well known that an eleetrie current flowingr through a resistance Wire. produces heat, which is proportional to the product of the resistance and the square of the current. This is taken advantage of in the conversion of electric energy into heat and electric eurrent is frequently used for the production of heat for any purpose.

My invention briefly described consists in making the steering Wheel with a hollow rim Within which an electric, heating element is placed. This heating eleincnt is connected to the ignition butter),y ol the vehicle h v means ot suitable conductors which are controlled b r a switch so that the current may he passed through the resistance whenever it is desired to generate heat Within the rini oi the steering wheel. vBy this means the rim of the steering wheel can be maintained atv any desired temperature regardless of the temperature of the cireuniambient Iair.

sni'emeoao Kuno, on oonnm "umani,

" This invention relates'to` iinproveiiients in i steering wheel. Extending radially l from .dewel pins 13 (Figure 8).

HEATING 'semaine WHEEL;

1926. Serial Nof109511. A

t For line purpose of more clearly desei'fibing my invention and -the the saine, reference Will he hadto the aeconipanying drawing in* which "the preferred embodiment thereof has been illustrated and 6 iin which: v j Figure 1 is a plan View of asteeri'ng Wheel constructcil in accordance withniy inven-I tion, apoition being broken away tofbetter show the-construction;

Figure 2 is avvsecti'ontaken 'on line 2%.-2;

Figureli and Figure 3' is a Fivnre 1..v l y i y{eterring'now to the vvdra\ v\'ingi.numeral 1 section taken on lineffm,

,represents-'the tubularr portion of the steers y ing post through which the rotatahlesteee.-

ing `rod Qextends.' Secured to theupper end of the; steering rod is the huh of the the'hub are spokes 4, which are preferably', curvedmpWardly in the manner indicated fintiY lfigure.' From Figure r3, it willibe. seen',- that the outer ends of the spokes 4 are pron vided on their lower surface with a shouldeiii;e 5, which is spaced a short distance froinf the extreme outer ends. The end portion "l G is provided with van opening 7 for the re-,i' ceptionof a clamping holt 8. The riin which I have indicated as a wholehy nurner`- 8 al 9 is' formed of two parts 10 and 11., of which part 10 is located on the upper and part 11 on the lower side of the end portions 6. Parts 10 and 11 have inwardly projecting lugs 12 direetiy over the .ends of 9 the spokes 4. so as to provide a convenient place for the bolts 7. In order to facilitate the assembly of the rims I have provided the two parts 10 and 11 ivithregistering openings which are adapted to receive the- 9 It-will be 'noted from Figures 2 and 3 that the parts l0 and 11 have their adjacent faces hollowed outso that when they are assembled an annular opening of circular cross section is provided. l This opening has been indicated hy numerall 14. Tiocated within the opening 14 is a resistance 15` which may be formed of an)7 suitable resistance wire. The ends of this resistance are connected to the eoiuilnctors 16 1 and 17 in the inanner indicated in Figure 1. The Wire 16 extends to the ungroiindc'f` pcf" ot' the battery B. While the wire 17 is grounded to seine part of the machine in the manner indicated by numeral 1S,v the v1 ianner ofi/using y li l ' resistance oehenlpcle o@ battery is grounded to the et I9.' -A' switch 20 serves to open and close the' circuit through wire 16.

y Y Itvrill be' e lparent from the above drawingfenddption that when'switch :20 is clcsejcnment- 1#vill How through the wire 16 and'rtlme'n'gh, the resistance 15, thence through: and through the ground.

" f and tothe other-pole of the battery. The

.me the resistent element' 15 is so I cnlenleed lineal? et' the'voltage available the desiredzznzir-zu1ii'. of heat is generated by the ement.. Since the resistnnce4 element is located withinthe rim of the wheel, the heat generated thereby will serve to heat the rim 9 which in turn will transmit heat to theI hande of the operator. `VihenevexI 4 necesnry holes 2l may be provided in the v 'parte 10 and "11 so as to provide epath through whichfair mnyl flow, although this lis not considered necessary as the heet gencreated by thenhefating element will incny I event be 'tmusxnitted to the rim 9.

From the above it will be apparent that mi automotive vehicle provided with my' imother, and

Having now described my invention what I, claim as new is: v

A steering wheel having :chulov provided with a .plurality4 of spokes extending radivr 3y ally vfrom said hub, each'of said spokes hev-l ing its end flattened and provided with a,

Erforation for the reception of a clamping 1t, ay two-part hollow circular rim secured to.sad spokes, euch part of said -rim being substantiall the same size and shape :1s-the aving. a semi-circular cross Section whose Het' dinmetrical surface is adapted to fit against the corresponding flat surface of the other part sov as to' form a rim having a circular cross section, each of said sections having asemiclrcular channel 1n the face adjacent the other-section whereby a circular groove vis formed for the receptien of an electric heater, each section havingan' inward projection provided'with 'a not-ch which cooperates with e1corresponding notch in the other section to forml an opening for the reception of the end of a, spoke, said projection being provided with perforations for the reception `yofa clamp ing Ibolt and a clamping bolt for securing' Kthe vrim to each of said spokes.- y

In testimony whereof I eix my signa.- tnre. v l. l 

